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My morning reading

2/2/2019

My morning reading includes a daily section from Around the Year with Emmet Fox (1952). Fox was so wise, so forward thinking. I could quote him every day, and never run out.
     Fox affirms my belief and coming to know that God has called me to pray for people. I continue to reread and ponder the following. I encourage you to do so, as well.

    Prayer does change things. Let us be perfectly clear about this. Prayer does change things. Many people say that prayer is a good thing because it gives us courage and fortitude for meeting our troubles. They say that prayer often gets a man out of difficulty simply by giving him self-confidence which he would otherwise have lacked. Of course, this is not spiritual Truth. The fact is that seeing the Presence of God where the trouble seems to be does not merely give us courage to meet the trouble; it changes the trouble into harmony.
    Prayer heals the body by changing the tissues, and it does this by first changing the mind which forms them. Prayer brings man his salvation by changing his nature fundamentally; not by making the best of him as he can be. The body, the environment, the universe itself, is plastic to our thought; and it always reflects our sincere belief. Emmet Fox (1886-1951)

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Help from God~

11/3/2017

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Emmet Fox tells us, “God can help you in proportion to the degree in which you worship him.” That puts the responsibility on both of us, which I believe is the way it is.
Here’s how my thinking/logic goes. If I leave it all up to God, God becomes a dictator, and I play no part. If I believed that, I will give up trying or even wanting to be a loving person or follow all those God messages. I’d probably give up on God and be an atheist. And, if I did that, would God still be there? As a believer, I say yes, God would; but as a non-believer, I wouldn’t know that. No wonder atheists do not believe there is a God; the degree they worship God is zero, which, according to Fox means that they get no help.

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Praying to do the best we can~

10/5/2016

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How easy it is to regret a decision we have made, even if we have made it prayerfully. That demon of the ego, guilt, creeps in. The following quote from Emmet Fox helped me today. Maybe it will comfort you.

When you have to make a decision or take a certain action, all that you can do is to do the best you know at that time, and if you do that you will have done your duty. In the light of after events it may turn out that you made a mistake, but that will not be your fault because you could not possibly to better than the best you did at the time.
Claim that the Christ is guiding you; and believe it; and the ultimate outcome will be favorable even if things seem to go wrong for a time.
And the Lord shall guide thee continually… (Isaiah 58:11).

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Emmet Fox on prayer~

11/8/2014

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    Emmet Fox has articulated something fundamental about prayer.

It may boldly be said that in prayer, the more love, the more power; and this is why people of developed spiritual perception take such constant pains to keep themselves free from thoughts of criticism and condemnation.

    The more we exist in an attitude of love, the more powerful our prayer. To be loving we must be free of judgment and opinion, or to use Fox’s words, ‘free from thoughts of criticism and condemnation.’ I am not claiming this is the only way to live a spiritual life, but it is for me because I feel called me to pray for people. That is why I don’t follow the news. That is why I am not a good storyteller. That is why, when I listen to people I try, as St. Benedict suggests. to listen with the ear of my heart.

    I am learning that a life of prayer is a solitary one and that it can lead to a certain kind of isolation and separation. I definitely don’t want to argue with anyone, but more subtly I don’t want to join a conversation where the participants agree about everything that is wrong with the world—politicians, the medical world, sexism, racism, you name it. I want to stay away from intellectual elitism.

   In writing this piece, however, I am aware that under the guise of spiritual elitism. I am indulging in just that. I do my best to be humble, which in and of itself is very humbling. I have many painful miles to go.

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Handle your problems spiritually~

1/8/2013

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I’ve been reading, “The Sermon on the Mount: The Key to Success,” by Emmet Fox, published in 1934, and renewed by HarperColins in 1989. Today the book offered this little gem, “Handle your problems spiritually.” Sounds so obvious. That’s what we people of faith do. Or do we? I realize that without even being aware of it, I slip into categorizing my problems; those I give to God and those I decide to solve myself.

    Spending so much time at the cottage make this duality particularly apparent. Here, accompanied by the sunrise, I center myself with God; on the beach, I walk and talk with God; at twilight I give thanks to God. Although I do email, I don’t watch TV and rarely do I talk on the phone or see anyone. God handles my problems with ease—my ease that is.

     On the other hand, when I’m home, leading the usual everyday life that most of us experience, I push God to the side--not consciously of course. It’s just that my analytic, problem solving mind, in excellent shape and fine tuned from years of experience, takes over. I act like the sole player of a professional sport’s team out to win the championship.

     I like to think that this time at the cottage by the sea is helping me play full time on God’s team; I believe it is. I am aware that the time here is a blessing, a gift from God. But switching teams doesn’t have to take all the sunrises that I experience, although a few days in solitude sure do help us handle our problems spiritually. Thus, my prayer is that people reading my blogs will be blessed with their own sunrises, beaches and twilights. Making time and finding the right space is a great way to start handling your problems spiritually. It can be done: ask God.

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My morning reading

Help from God~

Praying to do the best we can~

Emmet Fox on prayer~

Handle your problems spiritually~

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